Widely know as the Elephant God of India, he is revered by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains alike, both in India and without. Known as the Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles alike he is also honored as a patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom.

According to the stories he was born with a human head but when he came between Shiva and Parvati he was beheaded by Shiva. After which Shiva replaced it with an elephant's head.

As the Lord of Obstacles he is believed to either help remove obstacles from one's path or to put them there as a form of testing.

But he is also much more then this. He is associated with the Hindu mantra Aum or Om. According to Kundalini Yoga he resides within the first chakra.

I believe Ganesha is an important deity to turn to at this time of the year because since we are between the end of the year (Samhain) and the start of the new year (Yule) we should be focused on removing negative things from our life. Ganesha can help to remove obstacles from our path to do just that.

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